npx skills add ...
npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-identity-dotnet
npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-identity-dotnet
Azure Identity library for .NET. Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID. Use for DefaultAzureCredential, managed identity, service principals, and developer credentials. Triggers: "Azure Identity", "DefaultAzureCredential", "ManagedIdentityCredential", "ClientSecretCredential", "authentication .NET", "Azure auth", "credential chain".
The same skill content is published under more than one repo. The install counts are split across them; any of these commands works.
Authentication library for Azure SDK clients using Microsoft Entra ID.
The recommended credential for most scenarios. Tries multiple authentication methods in order. See DefaultAzureCredential overview for the current credential chain order and defaults.
| Category | Credential | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Chains | DefaultAzureCredential | Preconfigured chain for dev-to-prod |
ChainedTokenCredential | Custom credential chain | |
| Azure-Hosted | ManagedIdentityCredential | Azure managed identity |
WorkloadIdentityCredential | Kubernetes workload identity | |
EnvironmentCredential | Environment variables | |
| Service Principal | ClientSecretCredential | Client ID + secret |
ClientCertificateCredential | Client ID + certificate | |
ClientAssertionCredential | Signed client assertion | |
| User | InteractiveBrowserCredential | Browser-based auth |
DeviceCodeCredential | Device code flow | |
OnBehalfOfCredential | Delegated identity | |
| Developer | AzureCliCredential | Azure CLI |
AzurePowerShellCredential | Azure PowerShell | |
AzureDeveloperCliCredential | Azure Developer CLI | |
VisualStudioCredential | Visual Studio |
| Exception | Description |
|---|---|
AuthenticationFailedException | Base exception for authentication errors |
CredentialUnavailableException | Credential cannot authenticate in current environment |
AuthenticationRequiredException | Interactive authentication is required |
Supported Azure services:
All credential implementations are thread-safe. A single credential instance can be safely shared across multiple clients and threads.
| Package | Purpose | Install |
|---|---|---|
Azure.Identity | Authentication (this library) | dotnet add package Azure.Identity |
Microsoft.Extensions.Azure | DI integration | dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Azure |
Azure.Identity.Broker | Brokered auth | dotnet add package Azure.Identity.Broker |
| Resource | URL |
|---|---|
| NuGet Package | https://www.nuget.org/packages/Azure.Identity |
| API Reference | https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/azure.identity |
| Credential Chains | https://aka.ms/azsdk/net/identity/credential-chains |
| Best Practices | https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/azure/sdk/authentication/best-practices |
| GitHub Source | https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-net/tree/main/sdk/identity/Azure.Identity |
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<application-client-id>
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<directory-tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PATH=<path-to-pfx-or-pem>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<certificate-password> # OptionalAZURE_CLIENT_ID=<user-assigned-managed-identity-client-id> # Only for user-assignedusing Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Storage.Blobs;
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(
new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"),
credential);using Azure.Identity;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Azure;
builder.Services.AddAzureClients(clientBuilder =>
{
clientBuilder.AddBlobServiceClient(
new Uri("https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net"));
clientBuilder.AddSecretClient(
new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"));
// Uses DefaultAzureCredential by default
clientBuilder.UseCredential(new DefaultAzureCredential());
});var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
{
ExcludeEnvironmentCredential = true,
ExcludeManagedIdentityCredential = false,
ExcludeVisualStudioCredential = false,
ExcludeAzureCliCredential = false,
ExcludeInteractiveBrowserCredential = false, // Enable interactive
TenantId = "<tenant-id>",
ManagedIdentityClientId = "<user-assigned-mi-client-id>"
});// System-assigned managed identity
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(ManagedIdentityId.SystemAssigned);
// User-assigned by client ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));
// User-assigned by resource ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedResourceId("<resource-id>"));
// User-assigned by object ID
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedObjectId("<object-id>"));var credential = new ClientSecretCredential(
tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
clientId: "<client-id>",
clientSecret: "<client-secret>");
var client = new SecretClient(
new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
credential);var certificate = X509CertificateLoader.LoadCertificateFromFile("MyCertificate.pfx");
var credential = new ClientCertificateCredential(
tenantId: "<tenant-id>",
clientId: "<client-id>",
certificate);var credential = new ChainedTokenCredential(
new ManagedIdentityCredential(),
new AzureCliCredential());
var client = new SecretClient(
new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
credential);// Azure CLI
var credential = new AzureCliCredential();
// Azure PowerShell
var credential = new AzurePowerShellCredential();
// Azure Developer CLI (azd)
var credential = new AzureDeveloperCliCredential();
// Visual Studio
var credential = new VisualStudioCredential();
// Interactive Browser
var credential = new InteractiveBrowserCredential();// Production vs Development
TokenCredential credential = builder.Environment.IsProduction()
? new ManagedIdentityCredential("<client-id>")
: new DefaultAzureCredential();var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
new DefaultAzureCredentialOptions
{
AuthorityHost = AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
});
// Available authority hosts:
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzurePublicCloud (default)
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureGovernment
// AzureAuthorityHosts.AzureChina// Development
var devCredential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
// Production - use specific credential
var prodCredential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(
ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId("<client-id>"));// Good: Single credential instance shared across clients
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
var blobClient = new BlobServiceClient(blobUri, credential);
var secretClient = new SecretClient(vaultUri, credential);var options = new ManagedIdentityCredentialOptions(
ManagedIdentityId.FromUserAssignedClientId(clientId))
{
Retry =
{
MaxRetries = 3,
Delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0.5),
}
};
var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential(options);using Azure.Core.Diagnostics;
using AzureEventSourceListener listener = new((args, message) =>
{
if (args is { EventSource.Name: "Azure-Identity" })
{
Console.WriteLine(message);
}
}, EventLevel.LogAlways);using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Security.KeyVault.Secrets;
var client = new SecretClient(
new Uri("https://myvault.vault.azure.net"),
new DefaultAzureCredential());
try
{
KeyVaultSecret secret = await client.GetSecretAsync("secret1");
}
catch (AuthenticationFailedException e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Authentication Failed: {e.Message}");
}
catch (CredentialUnavailableException e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Credential Unavailable: {e.Message}");
}